Egypt court drops murder charge against Mubarak
Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak (centre) waves as he is transported from a military helicopter to the ambulance outside Maadi military hospital in Cairo on November 29, 2014 after a court dismissed a murder charge against the ousted leader over the deaths of protesters during a 2011 uprising that ended the former strongman's decades-long rule. AFP PHOTO | KHALED DESOUKI
What you need to know:
- The court also acquitted Mubarak of a corruption charge, but he will remain in prison because he is serving a three-year sentence in a separate corruption case.
- Cheers broke out in the courtroom and Mubarak's two sons and co-defendants stooped down to kiss his forehead
An Egyptian court dismissed Saturday a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during a 2011 uprising that ended the former strongman's decades-long rule.
The court also acquitted Mubarak of a corruption charge, but he will remain in prison because he is serving a three-year sentence in a separate corruption case.
Seven of his security commanders, including the feared former interior minister Habib al-Adly, were acquitted over the demonstrator deaths.
Cheers broke out in the courtroom and Mubarak's two sons and co-defendants stooped down to kiss his forehead when the judge read out the verdict, as Mubarak lay in an upright stretcher inside the caged dock.
DRAMATIC RETRIAL
The ruling came after a dramatic retrial in which the former president defended his 30-year rule.
An appeals court overturned an initial life sentence for Mubarak in 2012 on a technicality.
His lawyer Farid al-Deeb told AFP that Saturday's verdict was "a good ruling that proved the integrity of Mubarak's era."
